Over 225 participants graduated from SIM's Region Leadership Forum while at SIMposium 2013. RLF activities at SIMposium included a final session session for each forum, the RLF graduation ceremony, unlimited networking and a fund-raiser for the Wounded Warrior Project. The 2013 RLF class is proud to announce that it raised over $15,000 for the Wounded Warrior Project, a program that provides programs and services to severely injured service members during the time between active duty and transition to civilian life.

There is still time to registerfor the 2014 RLF program. Register by November 30 to take advantage of the early bird discount savings of $500. SIM member companies will also receive an additional discount of $600.

SIM's Regional Leadership Forum (RLF) is an intensive, ten-month leadership development program focused on creating authentic leaders. Since 1992 over 3000 graduates and more than 300 sponsors have found RLF the key to developing leadership effectiveness. The Regional Leadership Forum has graduated over 3500 people since 1992.

The SIM Leader of the Year Award recognizes members who contributed to the growth, advancement, and excellence of SIM at the local, national and/or international levels. In addition, the award provides a vehicle for SIM to highlight member service in our local and broader communities.

We are grateful to the all the nominees for their significant contributions, which serve as wonderful examples of the fabulous work that occurs throughout our membership. We thank all the nominators for their submissions. Most of the nominees were exceptionally strong!

We also want to thank the six judges, who represented a cross section of the country: Scot Berkey, Chicago; John Cole, Dallas-Fort Worth; Kevin More, Boston; Sandi Phillips, Southern California; Jeff Skulsky, Fairfield Westchester; and Jeff Stovall, Charlotte Region. (Judges did not score a candidate from their home chapter).

This year, the judges felt it especially difficult to choose a winner, but in a carefully governed and objective scoring process, six finalists stood out. This year's SIM Chapter Leaders of the Year are John Phillips of the Chicago Chapter and Bob Rouse of the St. Louis Chapter. Read more...

SIM's Advanced Practices Council has openings for a few good men and women in its 2014 program. If you are a senior IT executive interested in participating in APC's highly collaborative experience, we invite you to come as our guest to the January 21-22meeting in Atlanta to meet our knowledgeable and generous members and experience first-hand the benefits of joining the program. The meeting agenda will include:

We have some initial results from our member survey, and your feedback was crucial for gaining a clearer picture of our members' preferences and needs.

The results helped us to better understand what benefits and programs SIM members find valuable. Nearly 86% value SIM's potential for high-level networking, while 59% cite the ability to collaborate with industry peers as what makes SIM unique. Not surprisingly, 83% put SIM Chapter meetings at the top of their list of benefits, with SIMposium and the Regional Leadership Forum also getting high grades.

In keeping with the importance of networking to SIM members, 58% say they joined on the recommendation of a peer, while another 22% were referred to SIM by an employer. And most telling of all, over 94% would recommend SIM to a colleague.

We also gained insight into the high-level IT experience we have among our members, as almost 47% of respondents are at a Director level or higher. 95% have been in the field for 10 or more years - with 38% having over 30 years' IT experience.

Have you authored a book? If so, the Society for Information Management is creating a SIM book list and would like to know. The list will contain suggested readings from SIM authors as well as the Regional Leadership Forum book list.

If you authored a book and would like to share it with your fellow SIM members, please complete the online form HERE.